THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



715 



that have been so magiflcent in the 

 past, were one brown mass this sea- 

 sou— just enough to keep up a healthy 

 brood-rearin,', but no surplus. Then 

 we had about two weeks of basswood 

 bloom, and during this the bees did 

 very well, and stored enough to live 

 on during the hot, dry weather of 

 July and August. D.iring the latter 

 part of August and September, all 

 went well, so that now we hope to 

 have a supply of the natural sweets 

 for the bees. 



Very Dry Season.— J. S. Willard, 

 iedford, piowa, on Nov. 1, lS87,says : 



The weather has been very dry here 

 almost the entire season, and water 

 for stock was very scarce. The bee- 

 business has also been almost a fail- 

 ure. I am feeding my bees for winter 

 for the first since 1871. They have 

 part honey stores, and enough this 

 time. It looks as though I would 

 have to enter some other business in 

 connection with bee-keeping to 

 '• make ends meet " in such seasons as 

 this, but I hardly know what to try, 

 as I am neither stout nor well edu- 

 cated. 



Cycloned Honey.— C. W. McKown, 

 Gilson,K3 Ills., writes: 



Let me suggest a new name for ex- 

 tracted honey. The name I propose 

 carries with it meaning as well as 

 euphony. Much argument might be 

 reasonably advanced in support of 

 this name, but 1 will submit it with- 

 out argument, except to say that it 

 would carry a meaning to the brain 

 of the dumbest groceryman that 

 handles honey. It is '• cycloned " 

 honey ! This conveys the idea of 

 " whirling around very forcibly." 



Bees did Poorly, etc.— T. J. Love- 

 land, Tripoli, d Iowa, on Oct. 28, 



1887, says : 



Bees have done very poorly this 

 year. I put 125 colonies into the cel- 

 lar last fall, and lost during the spring 

 78 colonies. I sold one colony, and 

 commenced the season with 46 colo- 

 nies. My increase was 6 swarms. I 

 got 800 pounds of comb honey. My 

 bees have enough to winter on, ex- 

 cepting 1 or 2 colonies. It was the 

 poorest year since I have kept bees. 



My Experience with Bees, etc.— J. 

 T. Tweedell, Bowdon,K3 Ga., on Oct. 

 20, 1887, writes : 



I commenced bee-keeping last 

 spring with 2 colonies of hybrids, had 

 7 swarms, doubled one colony back, 

 and I now have 8 colonies in fair con- 

 dition. I got about 20 pounds of 

 comb honey. I do not think that 10 

 per cent, of the bees in this part of 

 the country swarmed, and we have 

 had very little surplus honey. I know 

 one man that had 13 colonies last 

 spring, and now has only S, but had 

 no swarms, and lost .5 from starva- 

 tion. He has box-hives. Xo swarms 

 and no boney is the general com- 



plaint. The American Bee Jour- 

 nal has been a great help to me. I 

 could not do without it and keep 

 bees. 



I send a plant to be named. I think 

 that it comes up in the spring from 

 the root. It grows from 3 to 5 leet 

 high, and blooms profusely. It is 

 now in full bloom, and my bees have 

 been working on it for 2 or 3 weeks. 

 Some plants have white and others 

 various shades of purple blossoms. 



[They belong to the numerous 

 family of asters— all excellent for 

 honey.— Ed.] 



Uniting Colonies before Winter.- 

 D. M. Stoler, Saxton,? Pa., on Oct. 

 29, 1887, writes : 



Would it add to the strength of my 

 bees to give to them bees from the 

 past summer's swarms, that have not 

 sufficient stores to winter on 'f There 

 are several such colonies near me that 

 I can have the bees from, as the 

 parties will let them die. If it would 

 be advantageous, how is it best to 

 unite them V My bees are reasonably 

 strong, with a fair supply of stores, 

 except one, which I find noio is short 

 of stores. AVhat is best to do with it? 



[Yes, if your hives contain enough 

 food for the united colonies, and it is 

 not too cold. Here it is now nice In- 

 dian summer weather. To unite : 

 Sprinkle both colonies with sweeten- 

 ed water scented with the essence of 

 peppermint; smoke well, and put 

 them all together in one hive. If you 

 do not wish to select the poorest 

 queen and kill it, leave that matter 

 to the bees to settle. Feed the colony 

 that is short of stores, or unite it with 

 one that has plenty.— Ed.] 



Hiving Swarms, etc.— Elias Rich- 

 mond, Lyons,*oX. Y., on Oct. 31,1887, 

 writes : 



Two years ago last spring I had 14 

 colonies of bees, and now, with the 

 increase, I have 32 colonies. The 

 amount of surplus honey this year is 

 small ; however, I think the bees have 

 plenty in the brood-chamber for win- 

 ter stores. 



In my experience I have noticed 

 that swarms which alight high are 

 not apt to stay after being hived. On 

 one occasion I got a swarm the third 

 time from a high limb, and by sprink- 

 ling them I succeeded in getting the 

 queen, clipped her wing, and hived 

 them again ; but the next day they 

 '• moved out " again, and alighted on 

 another high limb, but left the queen 

 with wing clipped lingering about the 

 hive. I tliought they might return to 

 the hive with the queen, but they left 

 the premises. One said : " Perhaps 

 they did not like the hive." But I put 

 the next swarm in it. which stayed 

 and did well. Another sstid: "Per- 

 haps they had two queens." 



Last spring, during the Urst warm 

 weather, the bees came out from 



every hive, and seemed to enjoy it. 

 Cold weather set in again for 2 or 3 

 weeks ; another warm spell appeared, 

 and they came out lively again, ex- 

 cept from one hive, which, upon ex- 

 amination, I found the bees had de- 

 serted and left plenty of honey. 



I have noticed that my bees have 

 usually come out the best in the 

 spring which was preceded by a 

 steady cold winter. This gives me 

 some faith in the theory of hiberna- 

 tion. My bees have built combs in 

 all sorts of shape in the frames. Since 

 taking the American Bee Journal 

 I see how this can be prevented. 



Condition of Bees in Nebraska.— 

 R. R. Ryan, President of the Ne- 

 braska State Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion, Bradshaw,ix Nebr., on Oct. 27, 

 1887, writes : 



The weather is quite cool, freezing 

 ice 1 inch thick last night. My bees 

 have plenty to live on during the 

 winter, but brood-rearing is over. I 

 shall put my bees in the cellar in 

 about one week. The cellar is ce- 

 mented, and keeps dry, but in this 

 country I never heard of damp cellars. 

 Bees generally are in good condition 

 for winter. My second year's success 

 in bee-keeping is as follows : In the 

 spring I commenced with 28 colonies, 

 increased them to 58, one became 

 queenless and I doubled it up ; sold 2 

 colonies, have 5-5 colonies now, and 

 took 1.000 pounds of extracted honey, 

 and 300 pounds of comb honey. I have 

 sold some at 15 to 22 cents per pound, 

 and guarantee it pure and good, or 

 money returned. 



Bee-j£eeping in Western Texas.— 

 Jas. D. Stephenson, Boerne,© Texas, 

 ouOct. 26, 1887, says: 



We are having a hard time of it 

 here in Western Texas, as we have 

 had no crops to speak of in two years. 

 Bees have done poorly. The Italians 

 have built up strong for the winter, 

 besides storing about 30 pounds of 

 surplus fall honey. The blacks suf- 

 fered during the drouth, and have not 

 recovered \et. I would not take $50 

 for what I have learned from the 

 American Bee Journal. I am 

 considered " the bee-man " of this 

 county. 



Wben Renewing your subscription 

 please try to get your neighbor who keeps 

 bees to join with you in taking the Be> 

 Journal. It is now «o cheap that no one 

 can afford to do without It. We will present 

 a Binder for the Bee Journal to any one 

 sending us three subscriptions— with $3.00 — 

 direct to this office. It tvIII pay any one to 

 devote a few hours, to get subscribers. 



Culored Posters for putting up over 

 honey exhibits at Fairs are quite attractive, 

 as well as useful. We have prepared some 

 for the Bee Journal, and will send two or 

 more free of cost to any one who will use 

 them, and try to get up acluh. 



